The present invention relates to a ribbon inker for applying a printing ink to the ribbon of a ribbon cartridge, which can be adjusted to wind the ribbon in either direction.
In order to repeatedly use an ordinary ribbon cartridge, the ribbon must be regularly applied with a printing ink. Various devices have been proposed for applying a printing ink to the ribbon of a ribbon cartridge, and have appeared on the market, for example: the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,271. Because these ribbon inking devices can only wind the ribbon in one direction, they are not suitable for all kinds of ribbon cartridges. Further, these ribbon inking devices do not provide such a ribbon cartridge hold-down means that can be adjusted according to the size of the ribbon cartridge to be inked.